Fear, my mind whispers, flashing images of Mother dragging Kaitlin away from me.
Blowing out a breath, I get Kait settled beneath the blankets. Everett snoozes in the bassinet, his little belly full. He’s almost two months old now. Smiling and cooing back at us. He’s the happiest baby I’ve ever met. At least until he’s hungry, and then he turns into a tiny Hulk, ready to smash everything.
Lying in bed listening to the calming sound of my children breathing, I try to sleep. But it never comes. Worry about Manny and my other mates keeps my mind whirling. If the FCDA could find Colin, this would end. There has to be something in my memory, a hint telling me where he would run to.
My phone chirps with a text from Shepherd. They’re back with Manny now. I slip into the hallway and call him, needing to hear his voice and learn more about what happened.
“Hey, Wildfire.”
“How is he?”
Shep sighs, sounding as exhausted as I feel. “Not good, but he’s alive. They have him sedated for now to give his body time to recover.”
I hear shuffling in the background, and then Foster’s voice joins his. “Angel, are the kids asleep?”
“Yeah, we’re all piled in the pack bedroom tonight. Missing all of you.”
He hums, murmuring that he misses us, too, but he’s distracted. I get it. He’s likely still experiencing the effects of his Omega Rage. Manny needs the strength Foster can lend himthrough their bond. It will help him heal faster, and that will bring them home to me.
“The police were here,” Shepherd tells me. The beeping of Manny’s heart monitor fades, and I picture my Alpha stepping into the hallway. His back pressed to the wall, one hand scrubbing through his strawberry-blonde hair. “Listen, Hannah, the dash cameras in the car were on.”
My breath catches in my lungs. He wouldn’t be telling me this if it weren’t important. More than proving that Colin was involved. “Tell me.”
“Your mother was there.”
Gripping the phone too tightly, I swallow the rage that bubbles up. Of course, she was there. This is who Mother has always been at her core. A woman who thrives on others’ pain. She’s rotten to her core, something I wish I could have realized sooner. Perhaps if I had, I could have stopped her constant attacks on my loved ones.
Shepherd’s voice rumbles in my ear, explaining that the FCDA has a lead from the plates on the cars they drove. One belonged to Colin’s parents, who now have warrants out for their arrest. The other linked back to New Hampshire’s former attorney general, Harold Henderson. A distant click echoes through my mind, unlocking a wisp of memory. I latch onto it, tugging until it comes into focus.
I’m sitting on a beach watching the waves splash against the shore. Ben plays beside me, building sandcastles. In the distance, I hear our parents fighting. They never fought. Mother was always submissive to our father, so maybe I’m imagining things?
Yet the memory feels important. Is there a connection to Harold aside from his role in the state government? What am I missing?
“Alpha, I’ll call you back. I think…” Shaking my head, I bite back my thoughts. “I need to call Donovan.” Before he can respond, I hang up and dial Donovan’s number instead. Since it is after midnight, he’s likely asleep, and I briefly feel bad for waking him, but this is important.
“Hannah, is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry for calling so late, but… I think I know where my mother is. Kind of.”
Rustling fills the line as he climbs out of bed, whispering an explanation to his mate. “I’m listening.”
“After we first met, and I agreed to act as an informant, there was a time I managed to sneak into my father’s office.” Long before he grew paranoid enough to set up cameras and alarms on all the entrances. “I took pictures of everything I found in his desk and sent them to my contact in the DAU. Among them was a faded photograph of a woman standing outside a cabin. At the time, I thought it was my mother, but now I’m not so certain.”
Donovan hums. “I remember it. But, Hannah, are you certain you wish to know the answers to these questions?”
His answer gives me pause. Lifting a hand, I place it over my heart, feeling the way my pulse flutters. Sometimes the truth hurts. Even a small sliver of it can carry the weight of a runaway train.Am I ready to know the secrets my parents kept buried away? To risk unlocking memories I’d rather stay buried away?
The answer is yes. No matter how much destruction the truth may cause, putting an end to this madness is more important. “Please tell me.”
“After investigating, our team discovered that the woman is Grace Belmont. Your aunt.”
My jaw drops, and I listen as Donovan explains, growing more nauseated with each revelation. Grief floods through my body, forcing me to slide down the wall before I lose my balance.A tear slips from my eye. I catch it on my finger, and stare, wondering where this sudden well of sadness comes from.
“Grace was five years older than your mother, and an Omega.”
Donovan keeps talking, telling me more of their history, but the words are static in my ears as I’m pulled into another memory. I’m on the same beach, the wintry air biting into my skin.
Water laps at the shore of the lake, doing little to drown out the sound of screaming inside the cabin. Aunt Grace is having her baby. She’d gone into labor at lunch, and Mother had rushed us here. With how loudly she’s crying, I think we should take her to the hospital. Maybe her baby is stuck.
